Khavinson · Rejuvenation research 2011 · in vitro cell culture study · n=?

Pinealon increases cell viability by suppression of free radical levels and activating proliferative processes.

Cited 17 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

In vitro bench study evaluating cellular mechanisms without human participants.

PubMed 21978084 · doi:10.1089/rej.2011.1172 · record verified 2026-08-26

What was done

Researchers evaluated the effects of the synthetic tripeptide pinealon (Glu-Asp-Arg) in cultured cerebellar granule cells, neutrophils, and PC12 pheochromocytoma cells exposed to receptor-dependent or receptor-independent oxidative stress. Measurements included reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, necrotic cell death (propidium iodide test), ERK 1/2 activation kinetics, and cell cycle modification.

What was found

Pinealon demonstrated dose-dependent reduction of ROS accumulation and decreased necrotic cell death, accompanied by delayed ERK 1/2 activation and cell cycle changes. ROS suppression and mortality reduction saturated at lower concentrations, whereas cell cycle modulation continued at higher concentrations. The abstract reports no numerical values, concentrations, or effect sizes.

Why it matters

The findings suggest pinealon acts through concentration-dependent mechanisms, combining antioxidant effects at lower doses with potential direct genomic or cell-cycle regulatory actions at higher doses.

Limits

The study is entirely in vitro, providing no pharmacokinetic, tissue distribution, or clinical efficacy data in living organisms. The abstract omits all numerical values, sample sizes, replicate numbers, and statistical significance levels.

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